20 September 2022
Denmark launches International Offshore Wind Alliance and highlights a future without oil and gas
On 19 September, the Danish-led Global Offshore Wind Alliance (GOWA), an international coalition of governments, private sector players and international organisations, came together to strengthen global offshore wind ambitions and promote the phase-out of oil and gas production. Its goal is to increase the global ambition of offshore wind worldwide - from 57 GW of installed capacity in 2021 to 380 GW by 2030 and 2,000 GW by 2050. Denmark has launched GOWA together with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), and Norway has officially joined the alliance. “Offshore wind plays a key role in achieving the climate goals of the Paris Agreement and phasing out coal, oil and gas. International cooperation is essential to make the promotion of offshore wind energy more turbocharged on a global scale. That is why we are launching GOWA now,” says Dan Jørgensen, the Danish Minister for Climate, Energy and Utilities.
At COP26 in Glasgow last year, Denmark, together with Costa Rica and 10 other governments, launched an international coalition - the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance (BOGA) - dedicated to phasing out global oil and natural gas production worldwide. Denmark has set 2050 as the final end date for oil and gas production through the North Sea Agreement.
Message From Our Sponsor
BASF: Turbocharging renewable energy take-up
As demand shifts from fossil fuels to electricity, the procurement and infrastructure to enable its distribution requires significant development and a strategically coherent approach. The creation of a single energy market could play a transformative role in allowing renewable energy to flow onto the grid in order to meet the EU's renewable energy targets. This will require two main conditions: the removal of unnecessary regulatory burdens and red tape, and investment in building the right infrastructure. New climate-friendly technologies will only work on a large scale if the sector has access to renewable electricity at competitive prices. This can only be achieved through a more deeply integrated European energy market.
However, progress is currently being hampered by an uncoordinated approach to energy infrastructure. For example, Vattenfall and BASF have presented a joint investment in the world’s largest offshore wind farm in the North Sea off the Dutch coast, with 140 wind turbines and a total installed capacity of 1.5 GW. Due to become fully operational in 2023, this wind farm will be the first fully merchant offshore wind farm in the world that does not receive any price subsidies for the power produced with the aim to use part of the electricity produced to power innovative, low-emission technologies at several of their production sites in Europe. Despite this, insufficient interconnectors, grid bottlenecks and surcharges on renewable electricity are holding back several BASF plants, including its main plant in Ludwigshafen. This example further highlights the need for dedicated infrastructure across the EU to remove existing domestic and cross-border grid bottlenecks.
A further issue looms in the shadows - namely the outdated tax and levy system. Under current conditions, delivering electricity through the grid usually means paying, taxing and levying taxes on the same energy source, regardless of its origin. To overcome these burdens, new policies are needed to bridge the economic gap for cost-sensitive companies competing in the global market. At EU level, this will require a transparent EU state aid framework that reflects economic realities and provides appropriate investment security across the EU single market.
Neste's refinery in Bolga aims to replace oil with renewable feedstock
Neste is now embarking on a strategic study to transform its refinery in Borgå, Finland, into a refinery using non-crude oil feedstocks, thus making it a leading global renewable cycle facility. Through a coordinated upgrade of existing units and the use of available refining equipment, experience and expertise, Neste aims to achieve significant growth in its renewable and recycled production at Borgå. The refinery will process renewable and recycled raw materials, and thereafter continue to upgrade existing production and finally, at a later stage, hold a production capacity of 2 to 4 million tonnes per year. This restructuring of production would mean that crude oil refining at Borgå would cease in the mid-2030s. Neste will also continue to actively study the possibility of using green hydrogen at its Borgå refinery. These changes will require significant investment over the next decade.
Niam's infrastructure fund is investing billions of dollars in solar parks together with Solkompaniet
Niam, through its infrastructure fund Niam Infra Fund, has signed a framework agreement with Solkompaniet for the development of a large solar park in southern Sweden. The objective is to jointly develop and build solar parks of up to 500 MW, which corresponds to an investment of more than SEK 3 billion. When completed, the solar park will mean an annual electricity generation capacity of 500 GWh, equivalent to the electricity consumption of 120,000 households in south-central Sweden, where electricity shortages are most severe. Under the framework agreement, the development of the first two solar parks, each with a capacity of 80 MW, is already underway. Östra Eneby outside Norrköping is one of the parks, and one of the furthest away. It is a piece of land with excellent conditions for solar power generation, good grid infrastructure and a positive acceptance of the scheme by the local population. It is expected that the solar park should be completed by the beginning of 2024/2025. The aim is to start developing more solar parks in the next two years under a framework agreement. In cooperation with Solkompaniet, Niam intends to finance the development and construction of the solar parks.
Statkraft and GreenIron enter into a partnership for the future of hydrogen energy
Statkraft and GreenIron have launched a collaboration on the production, delivery and storage of green hydrogen. The letter of intent centres on Statkraft's supply of hydrogen from electrolysers based on renewable electricity and GreenIron's establishment of bell furnaces for the production of fossil-free metals. GreenIron has a patented and proven energy-saving technology that reduces metal oxides to pure metal. The technology is based entirely on hydrogen, with only water as a residual product. The process is suitable for the extraction of metals from ores as well as residual products and waste. With GreenIron's technology, it is possible to recycle these by-streams into raw iron and metals. GreenIron plans to build its first pilot plant in 2023. The collaboration will include hydrogen production and hydrogen delivery, as well as the identification of suitable storage facilities in relation to GreenIron's future location.
Norges Bank Oljefondet eliminates the hydroelectric company-India NHPC
India's NHPC was building the largest hydroelectric power plant in the Southeast Asian country. Now, the Norges Bank Oljefondet's Ethics Committee has disinvested for environmental reasons. The reason given is that "the company poses an unacceptable risk of serious environmental damage." In its assessment, the ethics committee wrote that the scale of the project and the "proposed operating regime" had sparked protests and accusations of damage to local populations and important natural values. The ethics committee wrote that they had made their decision based on political guidance and that the threshold for excluding companies was high. In addition, the commission pointed out that they did not distinguish between different types of companies. Hydroelectric projects provide an important source of renewable energy, but it is well documented that such projects can be extremely damaging to people and nature. The extent of the consequences varies from project to project. Hydropower projects must therefore be assessed in the light of their specific characteristics and local circumstances.
The Norwegian Energy Policy Spokesman for the Progress Party, Marius Arion Nilsen, is concerned that this decision will hinder the operation of hydropower in Norway, which is now in the midst of an electricity price crisis, and that the need to develop new energy sources will be huge in the coming years. Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Deputy Lan Marie Berg from the MDG supported the decision and said that it was totally unacceptable to build a large dam in the middle of one of the world's most important areas for natural diversity and wildlife.
Biofuel Technology, Hveiti Ingredients, European Energy, Nature Energy and others to invest DKK 6 billion DKK in Lolland-Falster
The creation of a green gas pipeline to Lolland-Falster has led to a boom in investment in the region. More than DKK 6 billion is being invested in new energy sources, which has created more than 420 jobs. Steffen Lund, the Investment Manager at Lolland-Falster, says that at today's gas prices, the direct value created by the pipeline in just six months is equivalent to its construction costs. The planned biogas production is so large that the region will not only be self-sufficient in green gas, but will also be able to deliver biogas to the national gas network, thus helping to replace it in the national supply network. Steffen Lund says that access to biogas is vital for many of the investments in Lolland-Falster because of the abundance of solar and wind energy and the good port facilities. At the same time, several companies say that the whole hub here is very attractive and that this symbiotic relationship will allow them to use much of the surplus for research and use. Biofuel Technology will build a new large-scale biogas plant in Nakskov. It will cost USD 475 million and create 170 new jobs. Hveiti Ingredients is investing DKK 3 billion in a wheat refinery in Lolland to convert refined wheat seeds into a bio-substitute for plastics. European Energy is investing DKK 650-750 million in a Power-to-X facility in the port of Nakskov. Nature Energy will build biogas plants in Abed and Eskilstrup. There is a revolution in Lolland-Falster because of the green gas pipeline.
What we're reading
- EU plans to upgrade its Paris Agreement climate target (Reuters)
About Nordic Green News
The Nordic countries are some of the most dynamic and successful economies in the world. They are also leaders in sustainability, from renewable energy, biofuels, carbon capture and storage and the hydrogen economy, circular economy business models and battery development, the Nordics are pioneers in policy design, technology development and consumer uptake. Mundus Nordic Green News is covering this transition for the international community. Every day we curate the stories of most relevance to international businesspeople and policy experts from the flow of news. Mundus Nordic Green Indices summarise the meta-data from our daily coverage to enable easy tracking of trends. We supplement these with our own opinion pieces and commentary.
Powered by Notified